RT Article
T1 Striking the Balance?: On the Relationship Between Public and Private Security in Western Countries
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 62
IS 5
SP 1136
OP 1157
A1 Wenzelburger, Georg 1981-
A2 Staff, Helge
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1838849513
AB Much writing in comparative criminology on the punitive turn and developments in Western penal states has focused on how the state provides security to its citizens. However, the number of private guards exceeds those of police officers in many European countries, and private security services carry out numerous law and order tasks. Our paper links the literature on private security with comparative penal policy studies. It explores how the cross-national variance in the relative importance of public and private security—which we term ‘the security balance’ - can be explained by quantitatively analysing data on public and private security in 23 European countries from 2009 to 2018. We contribute to the literature on crime and politics by highlighting the significant role of private security in today’s balance of security provision.
K1 Private Security
K1 Penal Policy
K1 European democracies
K1 Comparative
K1 law and order,
K1 Police
DO 10.1093/bjc/azac033